#193 From Mom’s Path to Her Own: Building Career Confidence for Daughters with Ilana Levitt

Flourish Coaching

Sep 23, 2025

In this episode, Lisa and Ilana discuss:

Mother-daughter dynamics in shaping career confidence and identity
The unconscious transmission of attitudes about work, relationships, and self-worth
Navigating the tension between supporting and controlling children’s career paths
The role of self-awareness and open conversation in healthy career development

Key Takeaways:

Daughters absorb far more from how mothers navigate work, relationships, and confidence than from the advice they are given outright.
Holding too tightly to a fixed idea of who a daughter should become can quietly undermine her ability to build true career confidence.
Paying attention to the language you use about your job and your life helps prevent unintentional patterns of negativity or self-doubt from passing on to your children.
Sharing the full, unpolished story of your own career choices—including pivots, regrets, and proud moments—gives your child permission to make different decisions without guilt.

“The real trick is for daughters and for us to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses and separate ourselves enough from mom that we could see ourselves.” – Ilana Levitt

About Ilana Levitt:

Ilana Tolpin Levitt is a licensed mental health counselor, nationally certified clinical career counselor, and accomplished Organizational Development Human Resources executive passionate about igniting transformational change for individuals and organizations. She has a private counseling practice and serves as Senior Director of Organizational Development at The New School in New York City.

In 2017, she released What’s Mom Still Got to Do With It?, a career self-help book for women exploring the impact of the mother-daughter relationship on careers. Ilana loves inspiring audiences on mental well-being, work-life wellness, and career topics.

Episode References:

Download a Sample Birkman Report: https://flourishcoachingco.com/birkman
Sample The Seven Stories Exercise: https://careercenter.lehigh.edu/sites/careercenter.lehigh.edu/files/Seven%20Stories%20Exercise.pdf
New York Times: 25 Questions to Bring You Closer to Your Mom: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/09/well/mothers-day-questions.html

Get Lisa’s Free on-demand video: How-to guide for your teen to choose the right major, college, & career…(without painting themselves into a corner, missing crucial deadlines, or risking choices you both regret).

flourishcoachingco.com/video